10 Smartest Villain Plans In Doctor Who
"And I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for that meddling Doctor!"
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and this is certainly true of Doctor Who villains.
The show’s format dictates that all bad guys encountered by the Doctor must ultimately be defeated, however intricate their schemes. But that’s not to say we can’t appreciate the thought that went into them.
In fact, when you stand back and look at it, the majority of Doctor Who villains aren’t all-powerful beings: they're scavengers, taking advantage of whatever’s to hand to make the most of a bad situation. Maybe that makes them smart. Maybe that makes them lazy. But whichever way you look at it, you’d be hard-pressed to find a scheme that wouldn’t have succeeded if it wasn’t for the Doctor’s intervention.
Pretty much every villain the Doctor has fought would've got away with it if it wasn’t for them (or their companions) saving the day. However, some came closer to achieving their goals than others, with some smarty-pants plans we're genuinely impressed by.
10. Miss Foster (Partners In Crime)
One surefire way to invade without resistance is to trick the population into thinking you’re offering them something they want.
That’s the tactic Matron Cofelia (under the alias Miss Foster), took when she was tasked with finding a new breeding world for the Adipose. She capitalised on 21st century Britain’s obsession with weight loss by distributing a too-good-to-be-true diet pill – which, when activated, turned excess human fat into Adipose babies.
It’s the one plan on this list that, in fairness, might have actually benefitted humanity under more agreeable conditions. Even the Doctor eventually admits that, "As a diet plan, it sort of works". It's just a shame that using a level five planet for breeding is against galactic law!
Besides, Miss Foster had her eyes on much more than just weight loss. Ultimately, she planned to conduct emergency pathogenesis – a process by which human hair, bones and organs can also be converted, leaving nothing left.
The Doctor was able to put a stop to this scheme by hacking the Adipose Computer, but there was nothing he could do about the Adipose that had already been bred, other than to let them live. Which means that, to quote the Doctor himself, Miss Foster's plan "sort of" worked.